Seventy-Four House Members Ask Justice Thomas To Recuse Himself From Health Care Case

A letter signed by 74 Democratic members of the House asks Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from deciding the Affordable Health Care Act’s constitutionality. They argue that Thomas’ wife, Virginia Lamp Thomas, presents a conflict of interest because of her work as a lobbyist.

“The appearance of a conflict of interest merits recusal under federal law,” the House Democrats wrote. “From what we have already seen, the line between your impartiality and you and your wife’s financial stake in the overturn of health-care reform is blurred. Your spouse is advertising herself as a lobbyist who has ‘experience and connections’ and appeals to clients who want a particular decision — they want to overturn health-care reform. Moreover, your failure to disclose Ginny Thomas’s receipt of $686,589 from the Heritage Foundation, a prominent opponent of health-care reform, between 2003 and 2007 has raised great concern.”

This follows an request by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah that Justice Elena Kagan recuse herself because she worked as Solicitor General at the time the health care bill was debated.